FRENCH DENY CHIRAC MESSAGE TO PAPADOPOLOUS; REMAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 005471 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV FR TU EUN SUBJECT: FRENCH DENY CHIRAC MESSAGE TO PAPADOPOLOUS; REMAIN CAGEY ABOUT ULTIMATE INTENTIONS REF: A. PARIS 5307 ¶B. ANKARA 4716 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso ns 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Both Presidency and MFA contacts have denied Cypriot press reports that President Chirac last week passed a message to Cypriot President Papadopoulos in which he argued that EU accession talks with Turkey should not begin until Ankara recognized the Government of Cyprus, and asked for Papadopoulous' support. The same contacts refuted related press reports that an MFA circular had been sent to French embassies setting out a change in the French position on opening EU accession talks with Turkey October 3. Our understanding of the current French position is that: a) the Turkish declaration on Cyprus significantly changed the context for addressing Turkish accession negotiations; b) further discussion among Europeans is required; and, c) those discussions will inform France's eventual decision on whether to oppose opening negotiations on Oct. 3. Comment: As of now, we are authoritatively told, no decision has been taken that France will seek to block those talks. That decision may well depend on the eventual line-up in the EU. What we do not yet know is what kind of effort France will mount to influence the views of other EU members, in order to develop the basis -- a citical mass of support -- for a final decision to block accession talks. The denial of such a message to Papadopoulos now does not rule out such outreach as we move closer to October 3. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (C) Dominique Boch, who in this vacation period is in effect acting diplomatic advisor to President Chirac, told us August 11 that Chirac had not sent a private message to Papadopoulos. He stated that the GOF had publicly denied the report (although no such denial has surfaced on the official websites or has been picked up by the press). He also denied that any special directive had been communicated to French missions (as had been reported in conjunction with the press reports on a Chirac message). The latter denial appeared to be an artful dodge, however, as Claire Raulin, MFA desk officer for enlargement, admitted instructions had been sent to French embassies on the issue; this was to be seen, however, as part of the normal information flow with embassies. This message did not include a change of the French position, she said; it explained how to read Prime Minister de Villepin's August 2 statement on the recognition issue. Pressed on the Chirac-Papadopoulos letter, Raulin stated clearly that "my knowledge of this subject is pretty broad, and that rumor is completely false." ¶3. (C) All of our Presidency and MFA interlocutors have repeated to us that the Turkish declaration constitutes a "new fact" among the many considerations that will inform member states' views as discussions proceed and the decision is taken whether to move ahead with Turkey on October 3. They also underlined that the French very much want to assess and discuss this new element with their European partners, both at the August 24 COREPER and the September 1-2 Gymnich meetings before taking a decision on whether to open negotiations as scheduled. This message has been consistent since we took up the issue last week following Villepin's remarks. What the French are not saying is how much they will seek to influence other governments to reconsider the opening of talks. ¶4. (C) Pascal LeDeunff, deputy chief of the MFA's Common Foreign Security Policy unit, noted that because of public opinion opposing Turkish membership, and because the of "failure of May 29," French authorities would have to be "even more vigilant than they were before" in examining EU accession issues. According to Raulin, the MFA's legal office continues to examine whether the Turkish declaration legally invalidated the protocol signature -- a process that has not yet finished. That decision will inform France's position at the August and September discussions among permreps and FMs respectively. Hofmann